Speech on International Women’s Day Reception
by Sebastian Wood, UK Ambassador to China
08 Mar 2010

在2010年三八國(guó)際婦女節(jié)招待會(huì)的致辭
英國(guó)駐華大使 吳思田
2010年3月8日

International Women’s Day is celebrated in many countries around the world on March 8th. It is a day when women are recognised for their achievements without regard to divisions, whether national, linguistic, cultural, economic or political. It is an occasion for looking back on past struggles and accomplishments, and more importantly, for looking ahead to the untapped potential and opportunities that awaits future generations of women.

3月8日，世界上許多國(guó)家都在慶?！皣?guó)際婦女節(jié)”。這是認(rèn)可女性成就的一天，而不論分歧，不管?chē)?guó)家、語(yǔ)言、文化、經(jīng)濟(jì)或政治。這是回顧過(guò)去的斗爭(zhēng)與成就的時(shí)刻，而且更重要的是，這是展望蘊(yùn)藏著的潛力和機(jī)會(huì)等待未來(lái)的女性去開(kāi)發(fā)的時(shí)刻。

This year’s theme is “Equal rights, equal opportunities: Progress for all". The UK firmly believes that gender equality is at the heart of development of any society and is committed to fully realising this aim.

今年“國(guó)際婦女節(jié)”的主題是“平等權(quán)利、平等機(jī)會(huì)：共同進(jìn)步”。英國(guó)堅(jiān)定地認(rèn)為性別平等應(yīng)該是任何社會(huì)發(fā)展的核心，并承諾將全力去實(shí)現(xiàn)這一目標(biāo)。

China has made a remarkable journey when it comes to gender equality. From looking at the number of successful women in this room, it would be easy to assume that that journey is almost complete. In fact, one might ask, does International Women’s Day hold any relevance anymore? In both the UK and China, women are involved in decision-making processes, they participate in almost all aspects of society, laws exist to protect the rights of women, women own some of the most successful businesses, etc… It is clear gender equality in both our societies has progressed in leaps and bounds but there are still plenty of issues to tackle.?

當(dāng)提到性別平等時(shí)，中國(guó)有著不同尋常的歷程?？纯催@間屋子里成功女性的數(shù)量，人們很容易看到中國(guó)幾乎完成性別平等的歷程。事實(shí)上，有人可能會(huì)問(wèn)，“國(guó)際婦女節(jié)”不再適宜了嗎？在英國(guó)和中國(guó)，女性參與決策過(guò)程，她們幾乎參與到社會(huì)所有方面，現(xiàn)有法律保護(hù)婦女權(quán)利，一些女性擁有一些最成功的企業(yè)，等等……很明顯地，我們兩國(guó)社會(huì)在性別平等上都取得了迅速的進(jìn)步，但仍有許多問(wèn)題需要解決。

It is evident that barriers still exist for women in the work place. Gender based discrimination still occurs at the most fundamental levels. Discrimination with respect to issues such as wages, recruitment, retirement age, and sexual harassment remains widespread. Domestic violence and rape are still significant problems. The participation of women in government and business is lacking and this is a huge missed opportunity. Thankfully, it is women like those of you here today who prove that despite forms of discrimination, sometimes overt, sometimes unconscious, women’s achievements and contributions to society can not be ignored and that is what we want to celebrate here today.

很明顯地，對(duì)女性來(lái)說(shuō)，在職場(chǎng)上仍然存在著阻礙?；谛詣e的歧視仍然發(fā)生在最基本層面上。諸如在工資、招聘、退休年齡以及性騷擾等方面的歧視問(wèn)題依然很普遍。家庭暴力和強(qiáng)奸依舊是重大的問(wèn)題。婦女在政府和商業(yè)界參與不足，這是巨大的錯(cuò)失的機(jī)會(huì)。令人欣喜的是，今天像在座的各位女性，你們證明了，盡管存在著各種形式的歧視，有時(shí)是明顯的，有時(shí)是無(wú)意識(shí)的，但是婦女在社會(huì)中取得的成就，以及對(duì)社會(huì)所做的貢獻(xiàn)不能被忽視，這也是我們今天想要慶祝的。

China and the UK are signatories to CEDAW (Convention to Eliminate All Discrimination Against Women) and but we still have a long way to go to ultimately achieve this goal.? I hope that is something we can work together on.

中國(guó)和英國(guó)均是《消除對(duì)婦女一切形式歧視公約》簽約國(guó)，但是要最終實(shí)現(xiàn)這個(gè)目標(biāo)，我們?nèi)匀挥泻荛L(zhǎng)的路要走。我希望我們可以在這些事情上進(jìn)行合作。

International Women’s Day remains an important reminder of disadvantaged women globally, as well as a marker of women’s progress in society. It presents an opportunity to reflect on the changes still needed in society. As long as the under-representation of women in government, business and policy-making bodies remains, our societies will not realise their full potential. And that is why we are celebrating you. As women in prominent positions you set a precedent for the next generations.

“國(guó)際婦女節(jié)” 仍然是對(duì)人們要關(guān)注全球弱勢(shì)女性的重要提醒，也是婦女在社會(huì)上取得進(jìn)步的標(biāo)志。它提供了一個(gè)機(jī)會(huì)來(lái)思考社會(huì)中仍然需要變化。只要婦女在政府、商業(yè)界和政策制定機(jī)構(gòu)的代表名額不足，那么我們的社會(huì)就不能認(rèn)識(shí)到女性的全部潛力。而這就是為什么我們要為你們慶祝。作為杰出女性，你們?yōu)橄乱淮鷺?shù)立了榜樣。

We must not forget that IWD is only one day and what really matters is what happens tomorrow and the day after that.

我們必須不能忘記，“國(guó)際婦女節(jié)”僅僅是一天，真正重要的是明天以及未來(lái)的每一天會(huì)發(fā)生什么。

This day is all about you. It’s about providing inspiration, motivation, connection and opportunity and it’s about recognising your achievements. I am honoured to be in a room full of so many truly remarkable women, and look forward to having the opportunity of meeting all of you.

這是屬于你們的一天，是一個(gè)關(guān)于鼓舞、激勵(lì)、連結(jié)和機(jī)會(huì)的一天，是對(duì)你們?nèi)〉贸删偷恼J(rèn)可。我很榮幸今天能夠與如此多的杰出女性匯聚一堂，我期望能有機(jī)會(huì)認(rèn)識(shí)你們大家。